Game apparatus having playing piece ejecting means



Sept 2, 1969 STAN ET AL 3,464,694

GAME APPARATUS HAVING PLAYING PIECE EJECTING MEANS Filed Feb. 8, 1967 2Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS' l/E/VQY STA/V GOPDOA/ABAWLOW 60970/1/CMEY5? BYJ z a a AT- nNevs Se t. 2, 1969 H- STAN ET AL 3,464,694

GAME APPARATUS HAVING PLAYING PIECE EJECTING MEANS Filed Feb. 8, 1967 2Sheets-Sheet 2 I N v ENTO RS HE/VAY STA/v GOAOO/VA 5/121. 0W

80/970 6 MEVEA BY Jim 0 ATTORNEY United States Patent M 3,464,694 GAMEAPPARATUS HAVING PLAYING PIECE EJECTIN G MEANS Henry Stan, Chicago,Gordon A. Barlow, Evanston, and Burton C. Meyer, Chicago, Ill.,assignors to Marvin Glass & Associates, Chicago, 111., a partnershipFiled Feb. 8, 1967, Ser. No. 614,616

Int. Cl. A63f 3/04 US. Cl. 273-1 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREGame apparatus for a race type of game in which the players compete toaccomplish a result, and which includes a game board, a container on theboard for receiving a plurality of playing pieces, and a simulatedminiature broom for use by each player in sweeping pieces from theboard. The container has a spring biased, movable bottom which isreleasable to eject pieces on to the board.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention belongs generally to thatgroup of games wherein the players are disposed around a board and moveplaying pieces on the board in a manner determined by the rules of thegame. In the present invention, all of the players act simultaneously onthe playing pieces and race one another in the collection of objectswhich are thrown on to the board by apparatus provided with the game.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A game comprising a playing board, a pluralityof playing pieces, means for holding and ejecting said playing pieces onto said board, and additional means provided for each player for removalof said pieces from the board.

More particularly, it is an object of this invention to provide a gameas set forth above, wherein said board includes three-dimensionalobstacles thereon and an enclosure for the side edges of said boardincluding a tray at each corner which is accessible from the board, saidmeans for holding the playing pieces comprises a cylindrical containerhaving a spring-biased bottom and including means for sequentiallymoving said bottomabruptly upwardly to cause at least some of saidpieces to be thrown on to the board, and said additional means comprisessimulated brooms.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the game setup for play- FIGURE 2 is an enlarged exploded view of a portion of thestructure shown in FIGURE 1;

3,464,694 Patented Sept. 2, 1969 the park on all sides, but are spacedslightly at the extreme corners, to provide exit spaces for trash, eachrail having an outwardly projecting lug 22 (see FIGURE 2) adjacent eachend, one of which fits within a notch 24 in an inwardly directed portion25 of the wall 26 of a receptacle generally designated as 28. The latterhas a floor 30, a portion of which extends under a corner of board 10 sothat the latter rests on it, and similar receptacles 32, 34, and 36support the remaining comers in like manner and engage other lugs 22 atthe ends of rails 20. Fence rail 20 rests against inturned portion 25,while an identical fence rail rests against an inturned portion 38 andhas a lug similar to 22 engaged in a notch 40. Fence rails 20 have lowerinturned flanges 42 which are interposed between board 10 and floor 30,rails 20- being of such a length that, when so engaged with all fourreceptacles 28, 32, 34 and 36, they will define an area just sufiicientto receive board 10. It will be observed that when board 10 is in place,rails 20' are positively spaced from each other by the edges of board 10so that the rails cannot shift inwardly, and conse- FIGURE 3 is afurther enlarged vertical axial sectional view of a simulated trash canindicated in FIG- URE 1, with parts broken away and including a portionof the board;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a park bench indicated inFIGURE 1, including a portion of the board, and

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a broom and a collection ofarticles ejected from the trash can.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT quently lugs 22 cannot escapefrom notches 24 and 40, so that on a solid surface such as a table topthe device will be firm and strong and amply stable to withstand theexcitement of the play.

A trash can 44 is placed substantially in the middle of board 10 andprovided with a supply of waste material 46 (FIGURE 5) typical of whatmight be found in a trash can, some of which might be considered ofvalue, and most of which would not, and such material is thrown out ofthe can from time to time as will appear. Each of the players isprovided with a broom 48 and stationed at one of the receptacles 28, 32,34 and 36, and when the material is thrown out of the players endeavorwith their brooms to secure as many valuable articles as possible out ofthe trash and sweep them into their respective receptacles. In this theyare hindered by each other and by a series of obstacles typical of whatwould be found in a park.

Park benches '50 and 52 are fixed on board 10 firmly enough that theywill stay in place if contacted by any of the articles or brooms. Abridge 54 is fixed in position over lagoon 16, and similarly a bridge 56is fixed in position over lagoon 18. A lamp post 58 is fixed in positionalong pathway 12, and signs 60 are placed at strategic points. All ofthese project substantially above the surface of board 10 and tend tointerfere with the progress of the articles over the board, and alsowith the manipulation of the brooms by the players.

Trash can 44 has an outer wall or shell 62 and a bottom wall 64, thelatter being provided with a pair of hooks 66 which, when the parts areassembled extend through slots 68 in board 10 and, when shell 62 isslightly turned, engage the under side of board 10 beyond the ends ofslots 68 and lock can 44 securely in place. It will be observed that can44 can be easily removed, nevertheless, by turning it slightly,whereupon hooks 66 will readily come up through slots 68.

In like manner, fence rails 20 may be removed from engagement withreceptacles 28, 32, 34 and 36 by lifting board 10 upwardly out ofengagement with flanges 42. Benches 50 each have a leg portion 70 havingan offset foot 72 which rests upon board 10, and has a flanged hook-likeportion 74 which may be inserted through a slot 76 in board 10 and, whenthe bench is lowered into normal position will engage the under side ofboard 10 along the edge of slot 76. Bench 50 also has a leg portion 78having a foot 80 provided with spaced studs 82 extending downwardly andengaged, when bench 50 is in normal position, in holes 84 in board 10.In this way the bench is firmly secured in place, but is easilyremovable for storing. Bridges 54 and 56 are locked in place in asimilar manner, as are lamp post 58 and signs 60.

Trash can 44 is provided with a piston or false bottom 86, as seen inFIGURE 3, which is freely slidable in shell 62, and this bottom iscontinuously urged upwardly by a spring 88 engaged between it and bottomwall 64. An upwardly directed flange 90 guides the spring on wall 64,and a downwardly directed flange 92 guides the spring on the under sideof false bottom 86. The bottom 86 is retained in place against the forceof spring 88 by a pin 94 projecting outwardly from an upwardly directedstem 96 extending preferably axially through shell 62 and retainedagainst upward movement by a lower flange 98 engaged in a recess 100 inbottom wall 64. Stem 96 is freely rotatable in bottom wall 64 and alsoin piston 86, and if rotated sufficiently will bring pin 94 intoregistration with a notch 102 in piston 86, so that the latter may besuddenly impelled upwardly by spring 88 until a plain or un-notchedportion of the piston encounters another pin 104 which will arrest themovement and prevent piston 86 from being expelled entirely from shell44. Similar pins 106 and 108 are fixed on stem 96 at different levelsbelow pin 94 and also spaced circumferentially from pin 94, and whichpins may also be positioned to be passed by notch 102 by suitablyrotating stem 96. The latter may be turned by any suitable grippingmeans, in the present embodiment a sign-board 110 being affixed to theupper portion of stem 96 as shown in FIGURE 1, and made rugged enough toserve as a key or handle.

In playing the game, the parts are assembled as hereinbefore described,and false bottom or piston 86 is pressed down from the position shown inFIGURE 3, while stem 96 is turned to successively align pins 106 and 108with notch 102, until the piston is below pin 108 whereupon slightfurther turning will secure it beneath pin 108. The supply of trash 46is then loaded into trash can 44 on top of piston 108. One of theplayers then turns sign 110 until pin 108 aligns itself with notch 102.Piston 86 will then suddenly and forcibly pop up into engagement withpin 106, and in doing so will expel or toss a portion of the trash outof the can and distribute it in a random manner on board 10. The playersthen race with their brooms to try to secure the most valuable items andsweep them into their respective receptacles. Piston 86 will not gobeyond pin 106 at this time, since pin 106 is circumferentiallydisplaced from pin 108 so that pin 106 will not register with notch 102at such times as pin 108 does. Piston 86 will therefore perform onlypart of its possible stroke at this time.

When this portion of the trash has been disposed of sign 110 is turnedagain, whereupon another portion of trash will be expelled as piston 86jumps once more, this time into contact with pin 94. The operation isrepeated when the latter portion of trash has been disposed of, andpiston 86 is allowed, by further turning of sign 110, to jump intoengagement with pin 104, the last movement being sufiicient to expel thelast of the trash from can 44. A rib 112 extends lengthwise of container44 in engagement with a slot 114 in bottom 86, in order to preventrotation of the latter.

The game is won by the player who has the largest collection of valuableitems when all the trash is out of the can and in the receptacles 28 ofthe players. Additionally, a player may be penalized for the amount ofuseless items or trash he has collected or which has been swept into histray 28 by an opponent.

Although the invention has been described in connection with a specificembodiment, it is to be expected that variations and modifications willoccur to others working in this field, and it is intended that all suchvariations shall be considered as part of the invention.

What we claim is:

1. Game apparatus comprising a playing board, a plurality of playingpieces, means for holding and ejecting said playing pieces on to saidboard comprising a container having a movable bottom portion, springmeans biasing said bottom portion toward an open, upper end of saidcontainer, means for releasably holding said bottom portion in aposition spaced below said upper end of the container, and meansprovided for each player for removal of said pieces from said board.

2. Game apparatus comprising a playing board having a generally planesurface, means defining an enclosure along the side edges of said board,a plurality of playing pieces, a container for said playing piecescomprising a vertically movable bottom portion, spring means biasingsaid bottom portion upwardly in the container toward an open endthereof, means for releasably holding said bottom in any of severalvertically spaced positions within the container, and a plurality ofsimulated brooms for use by the players.

3. Game apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein said enclosureincludes a tray-forming portion adjacent each corner of the board andaccessible from the board to permit sweeping of said pieces into thetrays.

4. Game apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein said containerincludes means cooperable with openings in the center of the board toremovably fix the container in position on the board.

5. Game apparatus comprising a playing board having a generally planesurface and including three-dimensional objects fixed thereon inspaced-apart positions, means defining an enclosure along the side edgesof said board and including a tray adjacent each corner which isaccessible from the board, a plurality of playing pieces simulatingobjects of various values, a container for said playing pieces adaptedto be removably fixed in the center of said board and comprising avertically movable bottom portion, spring means biasing said bottomportion upwardly in the container, means for releasably holding saidbottom in any of several vertically spaced positions with the container,and a plurality of simulated brooms for use by the players.

6. Game apparatus as set forth in claim 5, wherein said means forreleasably holding said bottom in position includes a post extending thelength of the container and projecting upwardly from an open end at thetop, a plurality of vertically and circumferentially spacedapart pins onsaid post, and said movable bottom portion includes a central openingfor closely receiving said post and a slot extending outwardly of saidopening to permit the passage of anyone of said pins.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 286,868 10/1883 Thompson 124-16 X2,318,169 5/ 1943 Rock 273 2,617,651 1l/1952 Gerhold 1M16 X 2,824,7392/1958 Frank 273--85 X 2,981,542 4/1961 Weiss 273-85 RICHARD C. PINKHAM,Primary Examiner P. E. SHAPIRO, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

